Artwork for podcast The Catholic Teacher Podcast
There Are No Mirrors In Heaven
Episode 1023rd April 2021 • The Catholic Teacher Podcast • Jonathan Doyle
00:00:00 00:06:49

Share Episode

Shownotes

Today I share another profound quote from Father Donald Haggerty. In a world fractured by identity politics and rage this is a reminder of a strategy that can truly transform our lives and those of the people we care about.

One of the truly special things about your vocation as a Catholic educator is the way that your focus is directed toward the needs of others. Today's message takes us deeper into that reality.

Transcripts

Speaker:

Well, Hey everybody, Jonathan Doyle with you.

Speaker:

Once again, welcome aboard to the Catholic teacher daily podcast.

Speaker:

Great to have the pleasure of your company wherever you're listening in the world.

Speaker:

Thanks for tuning in for just a few moments for a little

Speaker:

bit of daily encouragement and inspiration for Catholic teachers.

Speaker:

It's such a crucial job that you're doing job.

Speaker:

Did I say job?

Speaker:

I mean, vocation.

Speaker:

Uh, calling if you've heard me speak live in how often I talk about that,

Speaker:

that this is a partnership God's called you into being an agent of what he's

Speaker:

trying to accomplish in the world.

Speaker:

So few of us get to operate at the highest levels of global power and politics, and

Speaker:

we assume that that's more significant.

Speaker:

But as I often say, God's economy is very, very different.

Speaker:

What we do on the smallest level, what we do on the smallest scale, the

Speaker:

conversations you're going to have in the next 24 hours as a Catholic educator

Speaker:

are as significant in God's eyes as anything that world leaders are doing.

Speaker:

You got to remember that, that, uh, He sees things very differently to us and

Speaker:

these small things that you do every single day are precious in his sight

Speaker:

and have ramifications and implications far beyond what you might think.

Speaker:

So never minimize the crucial importance of what you're doing every single day.

Speaker:

Now today's quote comes again from father Donald Haggerty.

Speaker:

If you've been listening to recent episodes, You know, I've been starting

Speaker:

to read his, uh, extraordinary works on contemplative prayer.

Speaker:

And, uh, this one's really interesting.

Speaker:

I'm going to read it to you.

Speaker:

And then now when you first hear it, you'll be like, what?

Speaker:

And then we'll just unpack it really quickly.

Speaker:

He says this, there are no mirrors in heaven.

Speaker:

Nor for that matter in the possession of those who love

Speaker:

God with intensity in this life.

Speaker:

One more time.

Speaker:

There are no mirrors in heaven, nor for that matter in the prison of those who

Speaker:

love God with intensity in this life.

Speaker:

Took me a couple of seconds to figure this out when I first saw

Speaker:

it, but what he's getting at, why would there be no mirrors in heaven?

Speaker:

Because in heaven.

Speaker:

This beautiful idea of the beatific vision is that we are all looking towards God.

Speaker:

We are seeing God as he really is.

Speaker:

And that is more than we can ask hope or imagine it's the most,

Speaker:

uh, it's what we're made for.

Speaker:

So, what it means is that in heaven, you don't need mirrors.

Speaker:

Why?

Speaker:

Because nobody wants to look at themselves.

Speaker:

Nobody's remotely interested in looking at themselves.

Speaker:

What they're interested in is, uh, being with the science in heaven,

Speaker:

staring at being in the presence of contemplating, enjoying, experiencing

Speaker:

in eternal ecstatic rapture, the beatific vision, the very face and

Speaker:

presence of God himself in himself.

Speaker:

So what it means is that in this life, We probably don't need mirrors.

Speaker:

What does it mean?

Speaker:

Think for a second about Instagram culture.

Speaker:

Think for a second about the world we inhabit that is just utterly

Speaker:

focused on the promotion of the self, the presentation of the self,

Speaker:

the, uh, the projection of the self.

Speaker:

We can come up with more words, but you get the point.

Speaker:

We live in a culture.

Speaker:

That's.

Speaker:

Uh, increasingly narcissistic, you look at the work of professor John twing, who

Speaker:

did the seminal rich research on, um, narcissism, particularly for young people.

Speaker:

The, the narcissism indicator scores for young people have jumped

Speaker:

dramatically in recent generations.

Speaker:

So, what this means is that the Christian life is a life

Speaker:

of increasing forgetfulness.

Speaker:

It's a life of increasingly thinking about and looking less at ourselves.

Speaker:

Now that doesn't mean any kind of, you know, self rejection or

Speaker:

that we don't feel that we matter.

Speaker:

It's not that it's that we begin to gradually forget ourselves.

Speaker:

St.

Speaker:

John of the cross has been a big part of my spiritual formation

Speaker:

over the last three decades.

Speaker:

And.

Speaker:

He is beautiful.

Speaker:

You know, he's famous spiritual poetry.

Speaker:

He says, you know, that, um, he went out of himself, left

Speaker:

himself forgotten and abandoned.

Speaker:

So often as spiritual life deepens his prayer deepens.

Speaker:

We get this kind of, so forgetfulness where we become far more interested

Speaker:

in others and in God, than we do in ourselves mentioned a culture like that.

Speaker:

I mentioned a culture.

Speaker:

I mean, look at our culture at the moment is just so full of rage and anger

Speaker:

and rights and demands and, and, you know, fracturing all over the place.

Speaker:

I ran identity because of this, you know, this profound obsession that we

Speaker:

seem to have culture at the moment with all forms of different, uh, identity.

Speaker:

Whereas the Christian vision is a gradual, so forgetfulness and a focusing upon

Speaker:

the other on, on the person in front of us on, on God, in contemplation.

Speaker:

So let's tie this up for Catholic educators.

Speaker:

We're called to this gradual self forgetfulness.

Speaker:

We don't need mirrors.

Speaker:

We don't need to be self obsessed.

Speaker:

We need to be focused upon.

Speaker:

And I'm sure so many of you do this incredibly well focused upon the needs

Speaker:

of young people, their families on a.

Speaker:

On focusing upon God.

Speaker:

And if we do that for long enough, By the grace of God, he transforms

Speaker:

us and we become fully who he is.

Speaker:

I mean, look at Christ on the cross.

Speaker:

I mean, how do I, how do I prove these theories?

Speaker:

Look at Christ, you know, this, this self abandonment, this

Speaker:

complete self giving for others.

Speaker:

And we're caught into that.

Speaker:

So one more time, there are no mirrors in heaven, nor for that matter in

Speaker:

the possession of those who love God with intensity in this life.

Speaker:

One more time clarification.

Speaker:

It doesn't mean that we don't look after ourselves.

Speaker:

It doesn't mean that we don't practice self care and look after

Speaker:

our wellbeing, because if we do that, we can actually love each other.

Speaker:

Love others more effectively.

Speaker:

But let's be revolutionary.

Speaker:

Huh?

Speaker:

Let's be the kind of people that Christians have always been

Speaker:

at crucial moments in history.

Speaker:

Let's be, counter-cultural, let's be people that are not self obsessed.

Speaker:

Let's be people who are deeply focused upon the needs of others

Speaker:

and upon finding and seeking God or seeking and finding God.

Speaker:

So I know you're already doing this.

Speaker:

You wouldn't be in this vocation of this.

Speaker:

Wasn't already part of your life.

Speaker:

So God bless your friends.

Speaker:

I hope that's a little bit of encouragement for you.

Speaker:

Thank you for what you're doing every single day.

Speaker:

Please make sure you've subscribed to the podcast wherever you're hearing this.

Speaker:

Have you hearing this on the website or somewhere, please come

Speaker:

across to one Catholic teacher.com O N E one Catholic teacher.com.

Speaker:

And there's tons of signup boxes all over that website.

Speaker:

So just drop your details in there and we'll get you these messages every

Speaker:

single day, but otherwise you can find us on every podcast player at

Speaker:

the Catholic teacher daily podcast.

Speaker:

My name is Jonathan Doyle.

Speaker:

It's been a joy to do this and I'll have another message for you tomorrow.

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube